[onearmsteve]

Sun 5-Apr Streets of St. Petersburg 1.8-mile street course
Sun 19-Apr Streets of Long Beach 1.968-mile street course
Sun 26-Apr Kansas Speedway 1.5-mile oval
Sun 24-May Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval
Sun 31-May The Milwaukee Mile 1.0-mile oval
Sat 6-Jun * Texas Motor Speedway 1.5-mile oval
Sun 21-Jun Iowa Speedway .875-mile oval
Sat 27-Jun * Richmond International Raceway .75-mile oval
Sun 5-Jul Watkins Glen International 3.4-mile road course
Sun 12-Jul Streets of Toronto 1.721-mile street course
Sun 26-Jul Edmonton City Centre Airport 1.973-mile airport course
Sat 1-Aug * Kentucky Speedway 1.5-mile oval
Sun 9-Aug Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 2.258-mile road course
Sun 23-Aug Infineon Raceway 2.245-mile road course
Sat 29-Aug * Chicagoland Speedway 1.5-mile oval
Sun 6-Sep The Raceway at Belle Isle Park 2.906-mile street course
Sat 19-Sep Twin Ring Motegi 1.5-mile oval
Sun 11-Oct Homestead-Miami Speedway 1.5-mil oval * - night race
Schedule subject to change.

[onearmsteve]

lose Nashville and add Toronto.

the IRL needed another temp street circuit like i need a hole in my head.

[Bob Tanner]

eight road/street races and 10 ovals. I guess that's about right, especially for the CART folks. I'd rather see 14 ovals and 4 r/s but that's just me.

I see they kept Richmond. I still think it's too small a venue for these cars. Maybe they kept it for the wreck enthusiasts?

[BringBackWilkesboro]

There was alot of fuss up here today that they didn't include NHIS. GM Jerry Gappens went so far as to say that it was a slap in the face to Bruton Smith and his company (quite frankly it was deserved) and to Bob Bahre, after he stuck with the series when the split of IRL and CART happened.

I can't honestly say it was a bad call to pass it up, but I think it could have worked out fairly well if they did decide to come up here. I was at the '97 race that Robby Buhl won, and it was actually pretty entertaining.

[Bob Tanner]

I think that they should have dumped Richmond (too small) and put a date in either New Hampshire or Vegas.

[DOF_power]

They actually took tracks that CART abandoned due to being parades and/or wreck fests while leaving out some good racing tracks like the Cleveland airport track, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the Michigan and Fontana ovals.

What's the reasoning behind this ?!

[hank static]

They also have forgotten Surfers in their list, a bit stink if you ask me as its always a super event.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by hank static

They also have forgotten Surfers in their list, a bit stink if you ask me as its always a super event.

I watched Penske's point man, Dan (? I think) Cindric, on Wind Tunnel last night. Dave asked him about the IRL schedule and he said IRL's plan is for all races to be in North America, with a mix of road, street and ovals. He indicated the local interest in IRL overseas was negligible. I have no idea if that's correct of not. He was speaking, not as an IRL spokesman but as a spokesman for an IRL team.

I imagine that, plus cost of transportation played into dropping your race? That's just a guess.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I watched Penske's point man, Dan (? I think) Cindric, on Wind Tunnel last night. Dave asked him about the IRL schedule and he said IRL's plan is for all races to be in North America, with a mix of road, street and ovals. He indicated the local interest in IRL overseas was negligible. I have no idea if that's correct of not. He was speaking, not as an IRL spokesman but as a spokesman for an IRL team.

I imagine that, plus cost of transportation played into dropping your race? That's just a guess.

I didn't know Twin Ring Motegi was in North America? Is it sort of like the London Bridge, sitting comfortable in the Arizona desert?

London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona



it would seem to me there's ample room in the schedule surrounding Motegi for Surfers. And if they were on back to back weekends the transportation costs would be considerably less than having 2 separate "excursions" outside North America.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I didn't know Twin Ring Motegi was in North America? Is it sort of like the London Bridge, sitting comfortable in the Arizona desert?

London Bridge, Lake Havasu City, Arizona



it would seem to me there's ample room in the schedule surrounding Motegi for Surfers. And if they were on back to back weekends the transportation costs would be considerably less than having 2 separate "excursions" outside North America.

Good point. I haven't the foggiest idea. Cindric wasn't asked that question last night but I wish he would have been.

Maybe Motegi is like some alleged our walk on the moon was? It wasn't run in Japan but rather on some back lot out in Burbank? Maybe that would explain Helio's pulling over to let your favourite female driver win?

Arizona has London Bridge, Nashville has a full sized replica of the Parthenon and Las Vegas has Elvis (lots of Elvises!). Nothing is sacred anymore.

[onearmsteve]

Surfer's Paradise was too long of a haul for a parade.